Bullish Henry Pollock taunts Australia: The Lions can win 3-0
The Lions have never managed to pull off a clean sweep in a Test series in the post-War era, although they have twice emerged unbeaten in 1971 and 1974. Despite losing to 28-24 to Argentina in Dublin, the Lions have made no secret of their desire to etch their names into the history books. 'There's a big thing that we've been speaking about, about being one of the best Lions teams ever,' back-rower Ben Earl said last week.
England flanker Pollock, who rounded off the tries in a 48-0 win against an AUNZ Invitational team in the Lions' final warm-up game on Saturday, went a step further stating they want to come away with a 3-0 series triumph. 'Yeah, 100 per cent,' Pollock said. 'We want to come here and be the best Lions team ever. We've been talking about that loads and yeah, 3-0 is definitely on the table, hopefully.
'I guess we're all just trying to work towards the same thing. So whether you're playing or you're not playing, we're all just trying to strive to be the best team we can be and get that 3-0 win. So if that's playing or not playing, then I'll adjust and be the best team-mate I can be.'
The Lions travelled from Adelaide to Brisbane on Sunday as Farrell and his coaching staff reviewed the footage of the eight-try win against an underwhelming AUNZ team. Having already called up Jamie George late on Saturday night following hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie's concussion, Farrell sent for further front-row reinforcements in the form of tighthead prop Tom Clarkson. That brings the total Leinster contingent in the squad to 14, level with the number of England players, although Clarkson is expected to provide cover for the midweek match against a First Nations and Pasifika XV in Melbourne between the first and second Tests on July 22.
'Everyone's hungry – everyone wants that Test spot'
The back row combination looks like being one of the most fiercely contested areas of selection with Pollock, Earl, Jac Morgan, Tom Curry and Josh van der Flier all seemingly competing for one space at openside. Coming into this tour as the youngest player with barely half an hour of Test rugby experience, Pollock is relishing the level of competition.
'I think everyone's hungry,' Pollock said. 'That's why it's such an amazing environment to be part of. Everyone wants that Test spot and whether you get it or not, you've just got to react positively to that and be the best team that you can be. We're looking forward to the next couple of days and that week as well to get the full training weekend and we're ripping to Saturday.
'There's world-class players here and if you're not learning, then you're in the wrong place. You try and learn as much as you can each day. I can vouch for all the boys that were loving it. The back row has been really good as well. I'm learning from Josh [van der Flier, Jac [Morgan], Ben [Earl]. They've been amazing. As I said, as a group, we're really close and we're just all striving for the same thing and it's a special environment.'
The Lions will train on Monday and have their main performance session on Wednesday before Farrell unveils his team on Thursday to face the Wallabies at the Suncorp Stadium in the first Test on Saturday. The players now face a nervous wait before the team is announced internally with even a Farrell favourite such as Tadhg Beirne, who has twice captained the side, given no special treatment.
'It would be great if you just announced it in the morning,' Beirne said. 'But this is all part of it isn't it, you just have to get on with it. It's a little bit out of our control at this point, everyone's put their best foot forward and it's up to Andy and the coaching staff now to select what they believe is the best 23 to do a job. Everyone's going to be anxious and want to be in that 23 but if you're not it's about how you react to that then, it's about preparing those 23 because we're all here to put one goal in mind. If you're not in that 23 it's just as important to prepare the team as best you can so they're ready to go come the Test game.'
George: I would swim to Australia if I had to
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